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Credit Union Times

OCTOBER 7, 2015 | VOL. 26 | NO. 36 | CUTIMES.COM

1990 2015

CREDIT UNION TIMES

FOCUSREPORT:

CYBERSECURITY

With data breaches taking hold of more organizations by the day, beefing up security is top-of-mind for many credit unions. In this Focus Report, learn about two of today’s biggest threats – account takeovers and coding vulnerabilities – plus discover how to mitigate insider cyberattacks. Y6

MBL Reform

Requiring a personal guarantee is a sound business practice. Y13

Serving the Underbanked

Cultivating relationships with Hispanic members is well worth the effort. . Y12

Must Reads

TECHNOLOGY

Rewards Level Playing Field

Two thirds of Americans prefer banking locally, according to the Austin, Texas-based BancVue. However, a perception still exists that credit unions and community banks fall behind mega-banks when it comes to delivering a top-tier product experience .

BancVue, which began provid-
ing white label rewards checking
accounts about nine years ago,
set out to increase the capabili-
ties of smaller financial institutions
such as credit unions in order to
level the playing field. To do so,
executives at the company said
they asked themselves, “How do
we shift the perception?”
The answer was the creation of
a national brand, Kasasa, which
includes products such as free
checking, money management
platforms, rewards programs,
customized marketing tools and
web and mobile apps that small-
er institutions might not be able
to offer on their own. BancVue
also helps community insti-
tutions with their advertising
through its Kasasa platform.

Kasasa’s free checking and savings accounts reward consumers for using their accounts with high interest rates, cash back and automatic savings deposits. All Kasasa products are free, reward-based accounts with no minimum balance to earn rewards or maintain the account, no monthly service fee, free online banking and free ATMs nationwide.

“Kasasa ties them all Y17
ow that a Minnesota
judge has given class
action status to a law-
suit by five financial
institutions against Target over
its 2013 data breach, many in the
credit union industry are eagerly
looking forward to the proceed-
ings and new regulations they
could advance.
Clark Yelverton, who is presi-
dent/CEO of the

$288 million, Lake
Charles, La.-based
CSE Federal Credit
Union, was espe-
cially pleased with
the decision. His
credit union is one
of five financial institutions – and
the only credit union – that filed
suit in April after Target offered
$19 million to settle breach claims
with MasterCard issuers.
“As one of the many credit
unions that suffered substan-
tial losses as a result of Target’s
failure to adequately protect its
sensitive payment data, we were
frustrated, particularly as the
data breach took place during the
busiest shopping season of the
year,” Yelverton said after
Target Suit Fuels Regulatory Push

TINA OREM torem@cutimes.com

Y18

LITIGATION

The Rundown

Y A suit against Target received class action status Sept. 15.

Y Momentum is building behind legislation regulating retailer data.

Y Plaintiff CSE FCU emphasized card issuers shouldn’t bear breach costs.

Yelverton

Medallion Loans on Books at 122 CUs DAVID MORRISON dmorrison@cutimes.com

inancial data from the NCUA show more credit unions may suffer losses as a result of the declining value of predominately New York City-based taxi medallions than previously thought.

While the agency said its data appeared to indicate the situation would not grow into a crisis, information from several other sources pointed to a growing struggle for credit unions involved with taxi medallion lending.

As of June 30, 2015, four New York credit unions – the $179 million, 2,900-member Montauk Credit Union of New York City; the $271 million, 3,000-mem- ber LOMTO Federal Credit Union in Woodside; the $2.1 billion, 24,000-member Melrose Credit Union in Briarwood and the $692 million, 3,800-mem- ber Progressive Credit Union in New York City – collectively sold 1,442 member business loans totaling more than $814.5 million, according to the NCUA.